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Marlin Gwail
Biography Marlin was born to Jennifer and Nyeg Gwail, a pair of ranch-hands outside of San Fransisco in 2212. Marlin would accompany his parents to work for the first six years of his life, usually in a rough sling on his mother's back. His parents eventually saved enough to send him to study with the Shi inside the town, where Marlin quickly picked up reading & writing. His parents couldn't afford regular payments however, so his attendance had several gaps in it. He wouldn't be deterred however, and practiced writing and reading whenever he could, causing him to be reprimanded several times in his teens. By sixteen Marlin realized that he wouldn't be able to find work in Shi-town and knew he didn't want to be a ranch-hand, so he decided to head out into the world. He sought his parents' blessing before departing, who despite their apprehension eventual gave it. He joined a caravan heading south in August, and would never return to San Fransisco. Marlin earned his way as a porter, moving the cargo whenever they stopped, and would have to use the .32 pistol he was given on several occasions, some of which formed a part of his later work. The caravan arrived in Shady Sands in the spring of 2229, and Marlin took his wages and entered the capitol of the young New California Republic. He initially found work, though it was sporadic and short-lived, primarily composing sandwich boards for stores and drafting flyers. For two months he would work for a caravan company making recruitment posters, but the venture would go bankrupt after a complete loss on a drive to Baja California. During this time Marline never stopped writing and completed his first novel They Weeped Blood when poverty loomed over him. He showed it to a dozen printers, shop-owners & merchants before coming across Andrew Dipan, a ghoul who claimed to be a literary agent before the War. Dipan liked the story, but advised Marlin to remove most of the content about the Weeping Flu and focus on the town's view on the raider clan that takes over. Marlin took the advice and the improved novel was published as They Wept that fall by a small print shop paid by Dipan. The ghoul would also advance Marlin three hundred NCR dollars, and after sales, he still made a small profit. This marked the beginning of a business relationship between the two that would last until Marlin's death. The human used this advance to rent a small shack on the edge of town, just inside the walls, where he worked almost constantly. That winter Marlin turned out three more stories, which Dipan sold one at a time. By the summer of 2231 Marlin was able to buy his shack outright and posses a modest amount of savings. He sent a letter and copy of his Ranger Polls novel to his parents after hearing that the former had sold it's thousandth copy, though the response was much less enthusiastic than he was expecting. Regardless, he continued to write, not being financially secure, with his Ranger series being his most popular. His works saw a decline in popularity during the late 2230s, something that worried Marlin, but not Dipan who knew such dips were common with the fickle public. The ghoul continued to buy his friend's novels, but published them selectively, primarily the Ranger Polls books. The emergence of the Enclave and the attack on Navarro would rekindle Marlin's passion in the mid-2240s which had been partially extinguished by drink. The bottle remained with Marlin the rest of his life, but would success, however moderate. His comeback work, Stars on the Horizon dealing with a frontier settlement plagued by an Enclave vertibird, made him an author spoken of like Malachi Dip, though in a very different context. The remainder of the decade saw Marlin produce fifteen novels, six of which were amount the loose-cannon Ranger Polls. When the war with the Brotherhood of Steel broke out Marlin volunteered for the army, but was unable to pass the mandatory physical. Undeterred, he turned his talent to support the fighting men & women, writing several novels about Group E about a special unit of veterans tasked with disturbing Brotherhood operations wherever they are found. While not as popular as And Here's Maxon With the Weather, they would find a respectable audience. As the war wound down, Marlin returned to his usual works, completeing his hundredth story in 2256. His health started to fail that summer, and he was advised by his friends, Dipan chief among them, to stop drinking. Marlin waved away their concerns and continued as he had been for the last two decades, completing two more novels before his death. He was found dead in his bed on August 3rd of 2259 by his neighbor whom he usually played cards with, with a half-finished manuscript for Group E Returns on the desk, which was quietly taken by Dipan. The Writer's funeral was surprisingly well attended and festive, with several notables in attendence whom admited to being fans of his works. Dipan would publish three volumes of stories as part of a memorial tribute, with the profits going to perserve the Marlin's home. Appearance Marlin stood at average height, though was overweight at the time of his death, due to a combination of heavy drinking and sitting for long periods. His black hair seemed perpetually greasy, which contrasted his skin which always seemed dry. His brown eyes became blood-shot from his drinking as he aged, and he often wore wasteland apparel for it's comfort. Category:Characters Category:New California Republic Category:Deceased